The Giza Criminal Court decided today to punish Muhammad Shawqi Sayed in re-trial procedures and sentenced him to 10 years in prision. The man was accusing among 71 defendants of burning the Kafr Hakim Church in Kerdasa. It is worth noting that all of the defendants in this case were sentenced in absentia to life imprisonment before they were arrested and applied for a re-trial of their trial procedures.

The European Union of Coptic Organizations for Human Rights EUCOHR offered condolences to the family of Gerges Baroumi, who was oppressed and sentenced to imprison, for the death of his father. The Union demanded the release of Gerges after spending most of his punishment.

The choir of St. Joseph Maronite Cathedral led by the priest George Khattar, participated at the activities of the International Festival of "Samaa” for singing and spiritual music, under the slogan: "Together we change the world” at the Interfaith Complex in ancient Egypt. The choir presented a number of spiritual hymns from the Maronite Church s hymns heritage in addition to other songs. Khoury George Khattar, leader of the Maronite Church choir, affirmed that the festival reflects a state of coexistence and national unity between Christians and Muslims in Egypt.

Archbishop Hedra of Aswan congratulated Eng. Kamel Michel, for his appointment to the Senate I’m 2020. It is worth mentioning that Eng. Kamel Michel is a servant at the diocese of Aswan.

Counselor Youssef Talaat, advisor to the Presidency of the Evangelical Community in Egypt, stated that the representatives of the three Egyptian churches, Orthodox, Evangelical and Catholic, had agreed on the draft of the personal status law before it is submitted to the cabinet. He added that the meeting of representatives of the three churches took place at the headquarters of the Council of Ministers with the participation of Anba Paula, Counselor Moncef Soliman for the Orthodox Church, Dr. Reverend Stephanos Zaki, Priest Rifat Fathi and Counselor Yusef Talaat from the Evangelical community, and both Anba Thomas and Chancellor Jamil Halim from the Catholic Church.

Bishop Paula of Tanta issued a decision to shut down two churches after a number of priests in them were infected with the new Corona virus. He added that all people should strictly follow the precautionary measures in the parish churches including wearing the masts.

President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi issued a decision to appoint a number of leaders and community sects in the Senate as the constitution allows him to appoint 100 personalities from all sects. Engineer Kamel Michel is minister at Aswan diocese and a businessman and CEO of several companies and a member the Crisis Management Committee of the Holy Synod, a member of the Egyptian-Ethiopian Relations Committee, and an observer of the Ethiopian Papal elections - Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and he was chosen in 2014 to be a member of the Deir al-Sultan Talks Committee, in Jerusalem, for the Coptic Church.

In his speech in meeting entitled Love for Egypt, HG Bishop Paula of Tanta talked about Egypt s pioneering civilizational role since the dawn of history and its leadership in many fields such as chemistry, medicine, arts, etc. He added that Egypt since the Pharaonic era believed in the one God, and had a very special place in the holy bible, especially the flight of the Holy Family to Egypt.

As the diocese of Beba and Al-Fashn is celebrating the third anniversary of the martyrdom of the priest Samaan Shehata, priest of the Church of St. Julius Al-Aqfahsi in Ezbet Gerges in Al-Fashn, the Court of Cassation will review the first hearings of the appeal submitted by the man accused of killing the priest Samaan Shehata on his death sentence. The case dates back to 2017 when Ahmed Saeed Ibrahim Al-Sunbati, 19 years old, an industrial technician, residing in Marj, used a knife to stab and kill the priest, and the investigations assured he doesn’t suffer from any mental illness.

10 Copts and Muslims were detained in the Dabbous village sectarian attacks in Minya. Militants attacked yesterday evening the Copts of the village of Dabous in Samalout Minya after a disagreement between Copts and Muslims in the village. A car and couple of windows of Coptic houses were destroyed in the attack. Police were reported and the assailants escaped before any of them was arrested.

A new crisis erupted in the Badari Center in Assiut Governorate, after the disappearance of the 20-year-old Coptic girl Magda Mansour Ibrahim, and her declaration she was converted into Islam in a video published on social media. Coptic activists said such videos don’t prove anything, especially after similar videos were published to Coptic women like Rania Abdul Massih and Christine Zarif, and it was revealed later that they were kidnapped and forced to record the videos.

Militants attacked yesterday evening the Copts of the village of Dabous in Samalout Minya after a disagreement between Copts and Muslims in the village. A car and couple of windows of Coptic houses were destroyed in the attack. Police were reported and the assailants escaped before any of them was arrested.

On the occasion of the forty-seventh anniversary of the Great October Victory, and the participation of the Egyptian Coptic Orthodox Church in Celebrating this glorious anniversary, church bells will ring all over Egypt at 2:05 PM on Tuesday, October 6, 2020. It is worth mention that the glorious war of October has started on October 6, 1973, at 2:05 PM.

The Monastery of St. George in Rizeigat, Luxor, issued a statement today confirming that it is preparing for the annual celebration that will be held on time under the patronage of His Holiness Pope Tawadros II and the papal committee overseeing the celebrations of the monastery . Statement added that the celebration will only be canceled if decided by Pope Tawadros and the committee, but there is currently no plans to suspend them.

St. Samuel monastery is waiting for security permission to open after the road to it was completed and is ready to be opened. The Central and Northern Upper Egypt Development Authority, affiliated to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Communities, announced the completion of paving the road to the monastery at the cost of 42 million LE. It is noteworthy that this road witnessed two terrorist incidents, in which nearly 40 people were killed and 30 other Copts were injured in their way to visit the monastery.

The Church of the Martyrs of Faith and the Homeland in Minya celebrated the arrival of the remains of the African martyrs Matthew, who was slain by ISIS among the 21 Coptic martyrs in Libya. His Eminence Abba Pfnutius, Archbishop of Samalut, demanded the Egyptian authorities to give him the remains of martyr Matthew to be held in a dedicated place in the shrine of the martyrs at the Church of the Martyrs of Faith and the Homeland.

Bishop Paula of Tanta received today a delegation of members and ambassadors of the European Union countries at the Cathedral of the Great St. George to visit the Shrine of the martyrs of Tanta. The delegation included His Excellency the Ambassador of the European Union Christian Burger, His Excellency the Ambassador of France, Mr. Stefan Romate, His Excellency the Ambassador of Germany, Mr. Cyril John, and the French member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Mr. Jean-Francois, and Stephen Romateie, the French ambassador.

Luxor Governorate started demolishing the Evangelical Church in Luxor to complete the Rams historic project. It is worth mentioning that the state has built a new church instead of the demolished one and prayers were held in the new church this month.

Bishop Agathon of Maghagha issued a statement confirming his love and submission for His Holiness Pope Tawadros II and that the lawsuit that he filed against the writer of the book about Bishop Epiphanius was in his personal capacity. In a statement, Bishop Agathon referred to a meeting at the Papal Headquarters in Cairo with His Holiness Pope Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of Saint Mark See and a number of members of the Holy Synod and declared all support for the decisions taken by the Pope for the good of the church and the Egyptians.

His Eminence Bishop Raphael, General Bishop of Churches in Central Cairo, said that the New Coptic Year celebrated tomorrow brings us a new hope, a new opportunity, and a new joy mixed with the blessings of the martyrs. He added that we pray to God to bless the new year with the prayers of the martyrs that we celebrate on that day.

Ambassador Nabila Makram Abdel Shahid, Minister of State for Immigration and Egyptian Affairs Abroad received HG Bishop Bakhoum, Patriarchal Deputy for Patriarchal Diocese Affairs in the Catholic Church, and Samia Rafla, Member of Parliament, to discuss means of cooperation between the Ministry of Immigration and the Coptic Catholic Church, within the framework of the presidential initiative The survival boats . The initiative aims to raise awareness of the dangers of illegal immigration, and the cooperation with the Coptic Catholic Church will be through supporting the simple and needy families in the governorates exporting illegal immigration.